Conclusion

The creation of the local TV stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a short history and coincides with the process of democratization and political pluralism. All the stations were found in the eve of, or in the course of the war, and their constitution ( it can not be spoken of a transformation, as is the case with radio) has been halted half way.

The reasons for this are, on one hand, in the warring circumstances, which affect each of the life and social directions, and on the other, in the lack of relevant legal and wider social framework as a basis for a profile making of the radio difussion system on the whole.

The adoption of the law regulations in the field of frequencies and author’s rights are only the first and necessary step in this direction. It has to be followed by the establishment of adequate mechanisms of the social control, particularly, in those segments which can be of international implications. The cessation of the present

tendencies of spontaneity and lack of planning will enable the creation of a situation which will place all subjects in an equal market relation, and thus, stimulate competition and independent character of the media. In this context , there is an issue of the redefining of the RTV BH position which should replace its former position of monopoly by a new position of a generator of development, and of an equal member of international organizations, with all the rights and obligations which stem out of such position. In close connection with this issues is the question of organization of the public television in the future cantonal units.

In the entangled web of property relations, it is difficult to discern the motives for the founding of stations. In this moment, we can offer several answers, which are mutually interwoven: the attempts to overcome the communication blockade, patriotic reasons for the purpose of strengthening the defense capacities of the country, national and religious affirmation, promotion of political interest, estimates that a war investment can be reevaluated commercially in time of peace. Most often, these motives are mixed, and only in the peaceful conditions ( market, competition) will this situation be crystallized. In the further process, we can expect the constitution of the system of public and commercial television which will not be separated by some sort of puritan limits. If some world experiences are accepted, the character of property will not in this case necessarily determine the character of a station.

The quality (structure) of the program offer of stations is a result of small production and technology capacities as well as staff and material strength of TV stations. The production of its own program in the current circumstances is so modest that it is difficult to speak of the existence of one’s own program identity.

This kind of openness can rather be viewed as a sort of dependence. The real program profiling of the stations is possible only in the conditions of peace. Current staff base is extremely narrow and undeveloped and it is likely that it will, in a foreseeable future, become the greatest limit to media development.

The future is in the building of a comprehensive system of training and staff education in cooperation with the institutions of high education. The ability to invest in the staff will legitimize the position of each station. On a longer term, the goal is creation of the market of media staff.

Technical equipment of stations is at an extremely low level. The basic equipment includes semi professional and amateur equipment, with a mix of standards and manufacturers. The current technical basis does not enable significant expansion with respect to the structural improvement and development of one’s own program. The

adoption of new technology and transfer to more modern and functional technical standards will demand primarily radical changes of the existing technical infrastructure.

In the current conditions, when majority of the stations are running “war bookkeeping” and do business in a humanitarian mode, it is difficult to speak of the existence of a firm connection between the real economic position and the degree of independence in their program functioning.

The economic position of the stations is featured by the state of general temporariness. Non existence of the media market in the conditions of war surroundings makes every estimate with respect to the prospects of work of the existing stations and the establishment of new ones rather unreliable. The scale of values has been changed and the structure of the income sources and expenses is essentially distorted. Some expenses are met selectively or are not even indicated in the system of business functioning ( legal and economic barriers of the satellite program borrowing are not resolved). The motive called “profit” can barely be discerned in the fact that income from commercials and services is most widely spread form with all the stations, because of the fact that they are, realistically speaking, financially small amounts. In the future, the sources of income will depend more and more on the quality of the programming offer, the zone of coverage and the total commercial capabilities of a station, in the situation of the wake of the media market, to which they themselves should contribute.